About this blog

My name is Bill Hirt and I'm a candidate to be a Representative from the 48th district in the Washington State legislature. My candidacy stems from concern the legislature is not properly overseeing the WSDOT and Sound Transit East Link light rail program. I believe East Link will be a disaster for the entire eastside. ST will spend 5-6 billion on a transportation project that will increase, not decrease cross-lake congestion, violates federal environmental laws, devastates a beautiful part of residential Bellevue, creates havoc in Bellevue's central business district, and does absolutely nothing to alleviate congestion on 1-90 and 405. The only winners with East Link are the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington and their labor unions.

This blog is an attempt to get more public awareness of these concerns. Many of the articles are from 3 years of failed efforts to persuade the Bellevue City Council, King County Council, east side legislators, media, and other organizations to stop this debacle. I have no illusions about being elected. My hope is voters from throughout the east side will read of my candidacy and visit this Web site. If they don't find them persuasive I know at least I tried.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Two Options to Save Bellevue

I
thought viewers might be interested in the following presentation I intend to
give to the BCC during their Nov. 13th “public comments’ meeting. My hope of course is this action by BCC would convince ST to switch to cross-lake BRT.

Bellevue
City Council

My
name is Bill Hirt and I live at 2615 170th SE.I’m here tonight to protest in the
strongest possible terms any agreement with Sound Transit that limits the
council’s ability to use the permitting process to stop East Link.I don’t think the council understands
the concept of permit approval.Those issuing the permit presumably agree with those seeking the permit that the project in question should be allowed to proceed.The East Link Environmental Impact Statement
identifies 10 different permits or approvals Bellevue has to issue before ST
can proceed.

The ability to withhold permits is restricted by Washington
regulation RCW 36.70A.200: “No local
comprehensive plan or development regulation may preclude the siting of
essential public facilities.”RCW
47.06.140 includes high-capacity transportation systems as one of those
essential public facilities.

However, the requirement to allow the siting of high capacity
transportation does not mean the council cannot select Bus Rapid Transit rather
than light rail from the South Bellevue P&R through Bellevue for its high
capacity transportation.This
option would eliminate the need to devastate parts of Bellevue including the
Mercer Slough Park, a violation of federal environmental law.

The other option would be for the council to refuse to approve
the permits unless ST agrees to tunnel from the P&R to the station on 116th.ST recently agreed to tunnel from
the University Station to Northgate, a substantially longer distance.(Eastside taxes provide about 40% of the funds ST will use.)

Instead, the council has allowed the ST board, a bunch of
unelected bureaucrats to refuse to even consider a tunnel into Bellevue, to
select the light rail route through Bellevue, and to extort an additional $200
million if they want a tunnel under the city center.

It’s nearly 4 years before serious East Link construction begins
so there’s no reason to limit the “permitting” option at this time.It may well be that future
council members won’t be as eager to allow this debacle.

About Me

My last elective position was class president for 25 “class of ’57” seniors in Armstrong, Iowa. I received an MS in engineering at ISU, worked at Boeing for 36 years before retiring in 1998. My wife and I moved into our current home in Bellevue in 1967 where we raised two daughters. Three years of unsuccessful attempts to persuade BCC to block EL are available on “extended session” meeting minutes. Copies of many were sent to all the media outlets, legislators, and others to no avail. I’m hoping this Web site will convince east side residents to query their own legislators.